A fire that heavily damaged offices of a Moorhead car dealership last month appears to have been deliberately set to destroy company files, according to a search warrant filed in Clay County District Court.
The fire occurred about 3:27 a.m. July 16 at Suzuki of Fargo-Moorhead - The Big Lot in Moorhead.
The search warrant, which was used to obtain phone records of an employee of the dealership, states that dealership officials told investigators after the fire that money was missing from several car sales and an employee was under suspicion.
The search warrant also said:
The employee was to meet with supervisors July 16 regarding the missing money, but the fire destroyed files pertaining to the suspicious sales.
ADVERTISEMENT
When the employee was interviewed by police, he wasn't truthful when talking about the status of his personal finances, and police discovered that he was behind on his car payments.
The employee told police he was asleep between 10:15 p.m. July 15 and 6:50 a.m. July 16, but when police looked at his cell phone, it showed that several calls were received during those hours.
The employee told investigators they must have been missed calls.
No one has been charged in connection with the case.
Moorhead Deputy Police Chief Bob Larson said the investigation into the fire is ongoing and declined to comment on it.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555
